The vast majority of mailpieces for delivery by a mail carrier enter the mail distribution system via a mailbox, kiosk, or similar device. One of the few instances that a visit to a local post office or carrier service may be required relates to certain requests for special handling or delivery of a mailpiece, i.e., requests for Value Added (VA) services. That is, should it be decided that “First Class” or “Priority” mailing is required to expedite delivery, a trip to the post office may then be required. Processing the request typically involves the completion of one or more forms, a review of the completed form(s) by a mail clerk, calculation of the required postage and induction of the mailpiece into the mail delivery system. As such, it will be appreciated that this manual process is laborious, time consuming and costly.
Difficulties associated with obtaining VA services is exacerbated in those instances where multiple mailpieces are to be delivered, e.g., bulk mailing of an advertisement to a large number of recipients. Rather than individually weighing and/or applying postage to each mailpiece, the United States Postal Service (USPS) encourages the use of a Manifest Mailing System (MMS) which is an automated postage payment system used to calculate and document postage. While a manifest is any listing of multiple mailpieces, in the context of the MMS, a manifest is a document which includes (i) a sequential listing of mailpieces in a batch or tray, (ii) a calculation of the postage based upon various rate options and presort levels claimed, and (iii) a signed/executed statement that, to the best of the mailer's belief, the calculated postage is true and correct.
Qualification to use the MMS requires that a mailer meet certain minimum requirements, i.e., 200 mailpieces or 50 pounds which may be satisfied by the mailing of mixed classes in the same batch. That is, to the extent that a mailer does not have the minimum 200 mailpieces in a particular class, the MMS permits a batch to include any one of a variety of classes, e.g., First Class, Certified, Return Receipt etc. Consequently, an itemized manifest, i.e., listing each mailpiece together with its class of service, may be used wherein, upon induction, a mail clerk accepts the batch, samples a few mailpieces (e.g., weighting each of the few selected) and approves the manifest. Of course, the USPS reserves the right to audit any of the manifests submitted for delivery.
The MMS significantly reduces the time sorting, labeling and calculating postage for the USPS, however, the burden is merely shifted to the mailer (albeit discounts are available as an incentive to use the MMS). While certain sophisticated mailers, who routinely prepare bulk mailings, may take full advantage of the MMS, many others lack the necessary proficiency (i.e., inefficient in the practice of printing, presorting and generating a manifest) to use the system effectively. This is particularly true for mailers requiring a variety of VA Services (i.e., mixed classes of mail) for mailing its products or services as part of its daily business. To request such VA services, specialized labels are typically required inasmuch as postage requirements vary from one class of mail to another.
With respect to the foregoing, an automated approach to printing labels, envelopes and manifest documents via a computerized system could provide significant efficiencies. On the other hand, the investment of time and funds may be difficult to justify when employing conventional tools and/or techniques for its development/implementation. More specifically, when modeling a solution based upon traditional software architecture, one of two development paths is commonly considered. These include creating dedicated application software or, alternatively, introducing specialized program code for each application. With respect to dedicated software, this approach requires that, each time a VA service may be requested, the user (i) leave a current software application e.g., word processing software, (ii) launch the dedicated VA service software and (iii) input data which may already exist in the other software application, i.e., where the mailpiece may have originally been created. Aside from the inconvenience of opening dedicated VA service software, such software requires additional data input for preparing each mailpiece. With respect to the development of specialized program code, each of the software applications (i.e., hundreds of applications which may be capable of producing mailpieces requiring VA services) would now require individual program modification.
In view of the absence of such software in the marketplace, whether dedicated application software or as a modification to existing application software, it may be reasonable to conclude that there is insufficient demand for this type of software product/product modification.
A need, therefore, exists to facilitate the creation of mailpieces having a VA service, minimize data input associated with mailpiece production, and mitigate complexities associated with the MMS while expediting the preparation of a manifest document.